Walter White
Walter Hartwell "Walt" White, a.k.a. "Heisenberg", is a chemist, a former teacher, and recently a producer of illicit methamphetamines. He moved to Albuquerque to work for Sandia Laboratories just prior to his firstborn. He then made his living as a very over-qualified chemistry teacher at J. P. Wynne High School. Frustrated by this lack of promotion, he's lived in the same three-bedroom house since then and had only one child, well short of his ambition. Walter's wife, Skyler, recently gave birth to their second child, Holly, a pregnancy that wasn't planned or expected. Their teenage son, Walt Jr., suffers from cerebral palsy. When Walt is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, he calculates the financial future of his family is doomed if he dies now. During a ride along on a DEA raid Walt decides to find a way to use his chemical expertise to cook and sell crystal meth. A former student and small time meth cook, Jesse Pinkman and he partner up and fall together into the criminal underworld of New Mexico. Step by step they become entangled with the worst that Albuquerque has to offer; from small-time dealers to the dons of the Juarez Drug Cartel and a nefarious limited liability international manufacturing concern. Character History Not much is known about Walter's past except he seems to be originally from California as he graduated from Caltech. When he was younger, he was a brilliant chemist who specialized in crystallography. His groundbreaking research regarding photon radiography contributed to a project that was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1985. He went on to co-found Gray Matter Technologies with his friend, Elliott Schwartz. At this time, he was dating his female lab assistant, Gretchen. For reasons not yet explained, Walter suddenly left Gretchen during a vacation with her family, leaving her and his research behind. Gretchen eventually went on to marry Elliot instead, and Gray Matter became a highly successful company using Walter's research. Walter secretly feels that his work was stolen from him and bitterly blames Elliott and Gretchen for his lot in life, although the truth to his claim has not yet been verified. Season 1 Walt eventually went on to become a chemistry teacher at JP Wynne High School where his son, Walt Jr., also attends as a student. Financially, this job was not enough to support his family, so Walt took on a second job at a local car wash. Soon after his 50th birthday, Walt got a passed out while working at the car wash. He was then reluctantly rushed to the hospital via ambulance where he was eventually diagnosed with stage-three terminal lung cancer and given less than two years left to live. This grim prognosis causes a dramatic change in Walt's usual mild-mannered demeanor, and he decides he must take extreme measures to provide for his family's long-term financial security. After being invited by his DEA agent brother-in-law, Hank, to accompany him on a live raid on a methamphetamine lab, Walt has a circumstantial encounter with one of his former students, Jesse Pinkman, whom he finds out is a meth dealer and manufacturer, also referred to as cook, who goes by the name "Captain Cook". With this information, Walt blackmails Jesse into helping him also enter the illegal drug trade on the production side, using his chemistry knowledge to cook remarkably potent and chemically pure "crystal" meth with Jesse to help him distribute it . Operating out of an RV in the desert, the two must defend themselves against two dealers, formerly Jesse's distributors, who accuse Walter of being a DEA agent. At first offering them the recipe to his crystal meth, Walter instead gasses them with phosphine gas and leaves them to suffocate in the RV, before driving away with an injured Jesse in tow . Walter and Jesse soon discover that one of the dealers is still alive, and restrain him in Jesse's basement. After a coin flip, Jesse is tasked with disposing of the dead dealer's body, and Walter with killing the other, a prospect that sickens him. Ignoring Walter's instructions on using a specific plastic container, Jesse dissolves the dead body in a bathtub of hydrofluoric acid, but the acid eats through the tub and the floor beneath it, spilling dissolved entrails in the hall . Meanwhile, Walter has begun providing food and a latrine to his prisoner, Krazy-8, whom he also confides in, attempting to find any excuse to leave him alive. Due to his illness, Walter passes out briefly while delivering food in one such instance, breaking a plate. Awakening later, Walter picks up the broken plate and goes to get the key to set Krazy-8 free. However, while upstairs, Walt has a sudden realization that there is a large sharp piece of the plate missing, which Krazy-8 has brandished. Realizing that Krazy-8 intends to kill him the second he sets him free, Walt decides that he has no choice but to kill the dealer, which he does by pulling back on the bike lock around his neck holding him in place until he chokes to death. Following the disposal of the body, Walter severs ties with Jesse . At a dinner party with his family, Walter finally reveals his cancer, having first told Skyler about his health condition some time before. They implore him to visit specialist doctors and undergo chemotherapy. At first adamant to decide his own fate, to die honorably instead of suffering the indignities of chemotherapy side-effects, Walter finally agrees to treatment. He pretends to accept financial assistance from his wealthy friends Elliott and Gretchen as a cover story to explain the source of payment for his chemotherapy. In reality, he approaches Jesse to rebuild their business arrangement and so pay for the treatments himself as a matter of pride. Jesse, unable to replicate Walter's recipe, accepts Walter's partnership and agrees to their clearly defined roles: Jesse the salesman and Walter the cook. Jesse learns that Walter has lung cancer and, realizing his goals of helping his family after his death, develops a newfound respect for him . Walt sends Jesse to negotiate with Tuco, a violent psychopath with links to the Mexican cartels who has taken over local drug distribution after the death and disappearance of Krazy-8. During their first meeting, Tuco refuses to pay up front for the product and savagely beats Jesse when he attempts to end the deal. With Jesse in the hospital, Walt confronts Tuco with the demand for up-front payment, using the pseudonym "Heisenberg." As Tuco prepares to assault him, Walt detonates a concealed explosive (Mercury(II) fulminate), blowing out the top floor of the hideout and intimidating Tuco into surrendering payment with a promise for future business . Jesse recovers from his wounds and the two resume cooking meth, this time circumventing the restrictions on over-the-counter drug pseudoephedrine products by stealing a large drum of methylamine from a chemical warehouse and using an alternate method of synthesis. Now able to produce four times as much crystal meth as before, and of higher quality, the two begin steady business with the increasingly psychotic Tuco . "Heisenberg" The alias adopted by Walt as he moves deeper into the drug trade is taken from Werner Heisenberg, a German theoretical physicist who is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory. Even after Tuco’s death, Walt continues to use the alias with Jesse’s dealers, none of them being aware of his true identity. As Heisenberg, Walt’s prowess in cooking crystal meth has attracted the attention of a variety of sources, including drug cartels and the DEA. Originally perceiving "Heisenberg" as a “tweaker urban legend." Hank soon comes to associate the name with the pure blue meth (aka "Blue Sky") that is quickly becoming popular in Albuquerque and in surrounding areas. When posing as Heisenberg during drug deals, Walt typically wears thick sunglasses, a black windbreaker and a black pork pie hat. Season 2 Fearing for their lives, White and Pinkman cook up a plan to kill Tuco. White creates a batch of ricin, a potent poison they hope will kill Tuco after they trick him into ingesting it under the pretense that it is a new batch of meth. As they devise a scheme to deliver the poison to Tuco, Tuco kills one of his own deputies and the DEA raid and shut down his operation in Albuquerqe. Tuco kidnaps Walter and Jesse, planning to take them to a "superlab" in Mexico. Tuco takes them to a hideout, a shack in the desert just outside the Mexican border where he keeps the two captive. Tuco tells them that he and his cousins plan on taking White to cook more meth in a Mexican lab. Tuco insinuates that he will kill Jesse, but White manages to convince Tuco that he needs his partner in order to cook. Time is running out and fearing that the cousins will kill Jesse as soon as they arrive, the two discuss ways on killing Tuco. They realize that they have the ricin poison with them, and they tempt Tuco into taking a hit. Jesse convinces Tuco to snort a line but during the conversation, Tuco grows suspicious about the product. Pinkman goes in to tell Tuco that it has a special ingredient, Pinkman's old trademark signature of adding chili pepper to his meth. Tuco, upon hearing this says he hates chili powder and doesn't take the drug. They try again, this time adding the poison to the food that Tuco is preparing for them and his uncle, but Tuco switches his plate and instead gives his poisoned food to his uncle, who, having witnessed the poison being put into the food, flings the plate to the floor. Tuco eventually figures out that they are trying to hurt him, so he takes Jesse out back to kill him. Angry and desperate, White and Jesse manage to incapacitate Tuco and escape when they see a vehicle approaching the house, a vehicle they believe is bringing the cousins. White and Pinkman run and hide, but instead of the cousins arriving, they realize that Hank has shown up after he has traced Pinkmans vehicle using the tracking device installed in Pinkmans car. A shootout between Hank and Tuco ensues, leaving Tuco dead. White and Pinkman run off into the desert . With Tuco out of the picture, Walt decides that it's time the two become the new meth kingpins, expanding into Tuco's old territory. Things seem to be on track until one of their dealers, Skinny Pete, is mugged, forcing Jesse to confront the perpetrators . One of the junkies is killed when his wife drops a stolen ATM on his head, but Jesse takes credit for the killing, earning him fear and respect and further solidifying "Heisenberg" in the area . Another dealer, Badger, is arrested by the DEA during a sting operation, forcing Walter to deal with a crooked lawyer named Saul Goodman who can offer only an expensive solution to keep Badger from snitching while also keeping him alive. Then Saul demands a cut of the meth profit in return for being Walter and Jesse's legal counsel and advisor in their drug operation, further eroding their income . Meanwhile, Gretchen, Walter's former lover and co-head of Gray Matter, discovers Walter has been lying to his family about her and her husband Elliott paying for Walter's cancer treatment. She is horrified when an angry and bitter Walter blames them for getting rich off his research, but she continues to keep secret Walter's refusal of their financial assistance, for his family's sake. Skyler goes back to work for Ted Beneke, her former boss who apparently once groped her while drunk, forcing her to quit. She increasingly relies on Ted for emotional support due to Walter's constant absence and strange behavior. After Walter notices a large blotch on a scan of his chest, he believes the cancer has spread. Having only $16,000 remaining of the meth money after the numerous setbacks, he and Jesse spend several days in the desert cooking 38 pounds of meth to sell off before Walter dies . At the doctor, Walter discovers that the blotch is only a treatable side effect of the radiation and that his tumor has shrunk 80%. He plans to quit his meth partnership once the 38 pounds are sold off, but he finds himself bored with the return to his mundane life, finding pleasure only when he is distracted or dealing with dangerous situations. When one of Walter and Jesse's dealers, Combo, is killed by rival dealers, Jesse is sent spiraling into a drug addiction that drags his new girlfriend Jane out of her sobriety. With their remaining dealers backing out, Saul uses his connections to introduce Walter and Jesse to a new distributor, Gus Fring, a cautious yet successful businessman who is skeptical of Jesse's dependability. Gus reluctantly offers to buy Walter's products for 1.2 million dollars but offers him only a one hour time frame to deliver. Walter attempts to contact Jesse to complete the exchange, but he and Jane are incapacitated after injecting heroin. Walter breaks into Pinkman's apartment to retrieve the meth. He manages to wake Jesse up, and asks him where the meth is. Jesse, who is high tells Walter that it is hidden underneath the kitchen sink. Trying to rush to the deal, Walter receives a text message informing him that Skyler is giving birth. Walter is forced to complete the trade by himself just as Skyler goes into labor. He narrowly manages to complete the transaction, but he misses the birth of his daughter . Walter loses trust in Jesse who has now begun to use heroin and promises to give him his share of the payout only if he agrees to go sober. Jane threatens to blackmail Walter, prompting him to turn over Jesse's share of the money. Janes father, growing suspicious of his daughters recent behavior, catches Jesse and Jane with heroin and paraphanelia. He demands she return to rehab immediately, but Jane manages to convince him that she will go first thing the next morning. Jesse and Walter agree to go their separate ways, but Walter feels obligated to help Jesse. Walter gives Jesse his money and Jesse and Jane plan on running away before her father can take her to rehab. With almost half million dollars, they decide to go to New Zealand and get clean, agreeing that sobering up is something they should do together and the decision has to be their choice to make and not to placate those around them. They plan to destroy their remaining supply of drugs, but they decide to use just one more time. After a coincidental meeting with Donald, Walt returns to Jesse, only to discover that he and Jane have taken heroin again . As Walter stands over the sleeping couple, Jane begins to cough and vomit, but Walter decides to not intervene, instead letting her die. This is where Walter crosses the old proverbial line. The eyeball is cast. Walter ends up dragging Jesse to a drug rehabilitation clinic. Jesse wakes up and realizes Jane is dead and Mike arrives to help him deal with the police. Later, Walt is confronted by Skyler who has finally discovered his numerous lives and lies. She leaves him, even when Walt offers to tell her everything, saying, "I'm too scared to know." The next day, two airplanes collide in the sky right above Walt's house. Before any of the other wreckage reigns down, a pink teddy bear splashes directly into his swimming pool . Season 3 A week after the Wayfarer Flight 515 collision, Walt finally moves out of the house and into his own apartment. The next day, Skyler comes to visit him and hands over divorce papers . Season 4 After Jesse shot Gale, the two were brought to the lab and held together until Gus arrived and slit Victor's throat for being seen at the murder scene. Ever since, he has started to become paranoid and is plotting to get rid of Gus in order to ensure his safety. Walt bought a .38 Snub Nose Revolver from a guns dealer and started practicing his draw, and also tried getting Mike to help him get an audience with Gus so he could assassinate the drug-lord. Walt worries that Gus is trying to set Jesse against him. Lately Jesse has been tasked with helping Mike and has met with Gus, so Walt creates some ricin and gives it to Jesse hoping that he'll be able to get close enough to poison Gus. After giving him the ricin, Walt places a GPS tracker on Jesse's car, confirming that Jesse went to Gus's house yet didn't poison him. When Jesse seeks Walt's help regarding how to teach the cartel how to make meth, Walt confronts him about the ricin and they get into a fist fight . While Jesse is in Mexico, Walt continues cooking meth in the superlab under the supervision of Tyrus. He also drives Hank out to Gus's farm and to the industrial laundry as part of Hank's investigation. Gus meets with Walt and says that he's going to be taking care of Hank and that if he interferes, he'll kill Walt's family. Immediately Walt goes to Saul to get the phone number of the guy who makes people disappear and instructs Saul to tip-off law enforcement about the threat against Hank. At home, Walt is horrified to discover that he doesn't actually have enough cash to pay the guy to make his family disappear . Because he had Saul make an anonymous tip to the D.E.A. threatening that The Cartel was seeking to kill him in retaliation for his killing of The Cousins, the D.E.A. send agents to Hank's house to guard he and Marie. Walt sends Skyler, Walt Jr., and Holly with them until he can figure out how to get Gus before he can make good on his threat to execute them all. Soon after, Walt apparently somehow manages to poison Jesse's girlfriend's son, Brock, with Lily of the Valley, a poisonous plant growing in Walt's yard. Walt manipulates Jesse into believing this was the work of Gus, who has a history of exploiting children and using poison to eliminate his enemies. Together they plan to have Jesse refuse to cook and lure Gus to the hospital so Walt can use a radio-activated pipe-bomb to blow up his vehicle and kill him. As Gus is leaving the hospital, however, he realizes that if he didn't poison Brock, then somebody did, and has the gut instinct to abandon his van and seek another mode of transportation, figuring Walt is somehow behind the scheme. As Gus and his henchmen walk away, Walt bursts into tears from a rooftop across the street, distraught that another attempt on Gus has failed. When Walt retrieves the car-bomb, he asks Jesse what happened, but Jesse is immediately taken in for questioning by federal agents for suspicion of posessing ricin. Walt has Saul visit Jesse while hes under arrest and he clues Saul into a potential enemy of Gus, Hector Salamanca, who Gus has been terrorizing at a retirement home. Walt deduces that Hector is an enemy of Gus. Walt goes to the home and suggests that Hector surely hates Walt for what happened to Tuco, Leonel and Marco, but surely Hector must hate Gus more for killing his friends and family. Walt convinces Hector to strap the bomb under his wheelchair once he returns from a meeting with Hank, in which Hector offers no other information, but succeeds in luring Gus to the retirement home. Hector later detonates the bomb Walt strapped to his wheelchair, killing Hector and Tyrus instantly and fatally wounding Gus. Later that same day, Walt kidnaps one of Gus' henchman and forces him to escort them down the elevator to the main Super-Lab under the laundry where Jesse has been taken hostage and enslaved to cook the meth. Walt guns down both men and then rescues Jesse, who assists him in dumping all the chemicals and starting a huge fire before they evacuate all those immigrants in the laundry. Back on the rooftop of the hospital, Jesse reveals to Walt that Brock wasn't poisoned with Ricin, but Lily of the Valley. Walt reacts well to the news that Brock is well and lets go a sense of relief. After Jesse leaves, Walt calls Skyler, who is curious about what happened with Gus and his men's death. Walt simply tells her, "I won..." and then leaves in his Aztec. (Actually a rental car because Walt's Aztec is in the shop after his forced accident with Hank in the car) The final shot of Season 4 zooms back in on the potted plant in Walt's yard that the spinning gun pointed at in the previous episode. As the camera zooms in on the plant, the tag "Lily of the Valley" is revealed, implying that Walt had poisoned Brock to win back Jesse's trust against Gus. People Walter has killed Krazy 8 (strangled with bike lock) Jane Margolis (Walt stood by and allowed Jane to OD) Rival Dealers (ran over with car, shot) Gus Fring (explosion) Tyrus Kitt (explosion) Hector Salamanca (explosion, however assisted suicide) Trivia *Walt's car is a well-used 2003 Pontiac Aztek that has been repainted in a non-factory color chosen by series creator Vince Gilligan, perhaps to mimic the look of a badly-faded factory paint job or as symbolic of Walt's previously bland existence. The windshield has been broken and replaced several times due to various acts that have been a result of Walt's descent into the drug world. The show's production team has at least 2 Azteks equipped for different filming situations. *Walt is 5'11" (180 cm) and 165–170 lbs (75–77 kg) . * "Heisenberg", the actual Werner Heisenberg from which he derived his criminal alias, was born on December 5, 1901, at Würzburg, and was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics. He was also 'investigated' by the SS before his acceptance into the Nazi controlled scientific reich. After the war Herr Doktor Heisenberg was hunted by the Soviets for his brain until his death. * Over the duration of the series, Walt has killed approximately nine individuals associated with the meth drug trade, and was indirectly involved in the death of two others. He, along with Jesse, is responsible for taking down four distinct groups and gangs involved within the drug trade. Category:Characters